Revelation 08: Jesus Hears Us

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The More We Dig. The More We Find.

Chapters

• 0:00 Jesus Hears Us: Revelation 8 Introduction
• 1:40 The Seventh Seal Opens
• 5:01 Prayers As Sweet Incense
• 6:22 The Seven Trumpets of Judgment
• 9:44 God Values Our Prayers
• 12:14 Closing Prayer and Encouragement

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:24

Well, hello everybody. Welcome back to the Bible Breakdown Podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, revelation Chapter 8. And today's title is Jesus Hears Us. Jesus Hears Us, and I know sometimes it can feel like Jesus has selective hearing Because it seems as though he answers some prayers. He doesn't answer others. But can I tell you, he always hears and he always answers. I know I had this lady one time who said she thought her husband had selective hearing because he could never seem to hear her whenever it was time to come do chores. But he could hear her when it was time for dinner and he looked at her and he said absolutely. And so he was just willing to admit hey, yeah, I have selective hearing, and you do too. But can I tell you not, jesus, he hears everything and he's going to prove it today in today's passage. That's why we're calling it Jesus Hears Us. So I might have just got somebody in trouble. So let's move on real quick. If you have your Bibles, open up with me to Revelation, chapter 8. As always, while you're doing that, make sure you take just a moment like share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. It really does help. It doesn't cost you anything, and make sure you go into the Bible Breakdown discussion on Facebook.

Speaker 1: 1:37

I'll tell you something the more we dig, the more we find. And if there's ever been a book of the Bible that we can dig and find, it is the book of Revelation. So if you've got that ready to go, let's dive in, because, remember, the overall goal of the book of Revelation is this idea that Jesus wins. That's been the whole thing we've been talking about from the very beginning is that Jesus wins. And the reason why we've been pushing in on this is because, from the very beginning, john says this book is a revelation of Jesus Christ and that he was primarily writing this book to the seven churches in Asia that he oversaw, and we talked about them in chapter 2 and chapter 3. And they are going through this intense persecution. I mean like bad, like bad, bad stuff. They're being hunted and killed in certain areas and the problem was is that the Roman government did not mind that they believed in Jesus more than Mary, a very polytheistic culture. The problem with it is that they said that Jesus is the only son of God. Everyone must bow to him. That's when they had a problem. And so what the book of Revelation is doing is it is, among other things, it is telling them Jesus really is king and he really is in charge. And so we see the systematic view of Jesus taking back over everything and showing that he really is in charge, and I feel like it's important to say every single time.

Speaker 1: 3:01

That's why the goal of this particular podcast is we are not trying to look at the book of Revelation in the way it predicts possible end-time events, the eschatology of Revelation. There's some great podcasts, great books out there that do that. What I want to do is look at what did the early church see when they looked at the book of Revelation? How did this encourage them? Because I believe, as we look at how it encourages them, it will also very much encourage us. So we're going to look at chapter 8, and we're going to. It encourages them. It will also very much encourage us. So we're going to look at chapter 8, and we're going to read through this, and we're going to start with looking at one of the ways that we know there's going to be a lot of different kinds of people in heaven, all of them that have united around Christ.

Speaker 1: 3:40

So let's get this one out of the way. It's a joke, I can't wait to tell. So let's do this. Okay, you ready? Revelation, chapter 8, verse 1 says this Okay, you ready? Revelation 8, verse 1 says this when the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. Now, pause. That's how you know, church of Christ. People are going to heaven. Is God going to give them 30 minutes where there's no music? That was a joke. Okay, for all of my Church of Christ people. Come on back. Come on back. It was just a joke. I tease our Pentecostal friends and everything else Might as well tease the Church of Christ people Probably not listening anyway, but that's okay.

Speaker 1: 4:16

But here's the thing. Remember we've been talking about the seals is back in chapter 4, we talked about how a land deed would be wrapped in a scroll and there would be seven seals over it and every time when you wanted to take possession of the land, you had to break open all seven seals. And that was one of the symbolic things, like nowadays when you have to sign paperwork and you go before the judge, that kind of stuff. It was the same thing. And when you opened the seventh seal, you were taking possession of the land. So now this is where Jesus, that's what he's talking about. When he says the lamb, he is taking possession of the land, and when he's taking it back, can you imagine? As he has now opened the seventh seal, there is just silence. So that's not for church, christ people, that is for everybody, because I think that all the courts of heaven realized wow, jesus has just taken back the earth. It really does belong to him.

Speaker 1: 5:11

Verse 2 says this I saw seven angels who stand before God and they were given seven trumpets. Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar and a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people as an offering on the golden altar before the throne. This is a symbol of the tabernacle in the Old Testament. Verse 4,. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God's holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Verse 5,. Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down on the earth and there was thunder crashing, lightning flashing and there was a terrible earthquake. Then the seven angels with seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts.

Speaker 1: 6:04

The first angel blew his trumpet and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire and one-third of the trees were burned and all the grass was burned. A second angel blew his trumpet and a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea became blood and one-third of all the living in the sea died and one-third of all the ships of the sea were destroyed.

Speaker 1: 6:32

And the third angel blew his trumpet and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch one. It fell in one third of the rivers and the springs of water. The name of that star was called bitterness other translations would say wormwood and it made one third of the water bitter and many people died from drinking the bitter water. Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet and one third of the water bitter and many people died from drinking the bitter water. Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet and one-third of the sun was struck and one-third of the moon and one-third of the stars and they became dark and one-third of the day was dark and also one-third of the night. And then I looked and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world. Wow. So, as you can see, now that Jesus has symbolically taken back the ownership of the property of the world, he is now declaring justice and he is declaring judgment on all of those who have defied the name of God. And whereas there are some very interesting parallels and things we can look at in the future and there's a lot of people who have looked at, you know, the mountain falling could be an asteroid we don't know what the future holds.

Speaker 1: 7:50

For the original audience, this would have been awe-inspiring because, as you can tell these first trumpets, what they did was they really kind of wreaked havoc on all the water. Well, one of the things that the Roman Empire prided themselves on was owning the waters, owning the ships and owning the seas and the streams because of the different merchants and the different, because of the different merchants and the different things they would do. And so, in this, what this would have been symbolizing is that God has taken control of all of their source revenue, that God is wreaking havoc on what made them powerful and what gave them money. And so he is wreaking havoc and judgment upon the wealth of the nation. It would be the same thing as if in the United States of America, there was a thing that happened a few years ago and it disrupted the supply lines and it caused everything to go in chaos.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Well, this would have been the same thing disrupting the supply lines so that all of the prosperousness that's the word of the Roman Empire would be coming to an end. And that is God saying I've been seeing what they've been doing and I'm going to stop the flow of blessing in their life. So on one end he's saying I'm going to stop the evil. But what I love is the beginning section, because the beginning section says that there was an angel that took the prayers of the people and he offered them up before the throne of God. And what this would have meant to those original readers is to say don't ever think that God doesn't hear your prayers. Actually, the opposite, god hears every one of your prayers. And that incense. Back in the tabernacle they would burn incense as a form of worship before the Lord, and it was saying that your prayers before God is a sweet smell in God's presence, which once again reminds me of the very beginning I was saying about that, that couple that had selective hearing one another and they would joke back and forth about that.

Speaker 1: 9:42

Can we be honest and just say that there are some of us who have felt like in the past that God had selective hearing, that it seems like he hears other people's prayers, that God had selective hearing, that it seems like he hears other people's prayers but he doesn't hear ours. Or that he hears us when we pray and worship but he doesn't hear us when we pray and we ask and we beg and we plead for things. Can I tell you, if you've ever wondered if God heard your prayer, can I tell you that's not God. That's a lie of the enemy trying to steal your confidence. God's Word says plainly that your prayers are precious to the Lord and for the early church that's what God would have been telling them. Don't you ever believe God doesn't love your prayer. He values it. It is the symbol of a sweet aroma to Him when he hears your prayer.

Speaker 1: 10:32

You ever been around somebody who had just the like this wonderful cologne? You ever. You've never done that before I. I had this friend one time that he loved to put on cologne and it smelled so good, you know. And so, like before he'd walk in the room, you could smell him and be like, oh, so-and-so's here, how do you know? And then there you walk in, I can smell him and it smells good. Can I tell you that's what? That's what god's like when he's like, oh, I can smell my, my children, because I can. I can hear their prayers. So never think that god doesn't care. As a matter of fact, he loves it when you talk to him.

Speaker 1: 11:08

Let's pray together right now, god. Thank you that even in this moment we're praying, we're talking to you. You value our prayers, prayers. You love our prayers, lord. It is our prayers that give us the opportunity to connect with you and fellowship with you.

Speaker 1: 11:21

Lord, I pray that anyone is listening or watching this and the enemy is trying to lie to them and say that you don't hear their prayer. When you hear somebody else's or any other lie of the enemy, that, lord, you'll just shut the mouth of the adversary. Remind them, god, that you hold them precious in your eyes. You hear our prayers and it doesn't matter if things are going well or if it seems like the world is caving in. You hear us, you see us, you know us and you rescue us. I'm thankful for that. Today, in Jesus' name, we pray Amen. And what God's word says in Revelation 1, verse 7,. It says look, he is coming with the clouds of heaven and everyone will see him. My hope is is that we will hold on to that hope that one day we get to see Jesus face to face. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow for Revelation, chapter 9.